Touch-control flashing toothbrush

ABSTRACT

A touch-control flashing toothbrush comprises a hollow brush handle and a control circuit board. The hollow brush handle has a brush head at one end and a light-permeable handle member at another end. The control circuit board is arranged inside the hollow brush handle and includes a control circuit electrically connected with a light emitting element, two electric-conduction contacts, and a battery assembly. The battery assembly supplies power to the other elements. The electric-conduction contacts are exposed on the surface of the hollow brush handle. Once two electric-conduction contacts are touched simultaneously, voltage of the battery assembly is conducted to the control circuit. Then, the control circuit controls the light emitting element to emit light projecting to exterior through the light-permeable handle member. The touch-control flashing toothbrush is triggered to emit light by touch, interesting children and encouraging them to keep oral health.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toothbrush, particularly to atouch-control flashing toothbrush triggered by touch to emit flashinglight.

Description of the Related Art

The toothbrush is an instrument for clean teeth, having bundles ofbristles on the brush head. The toothbrush can reach the deep of theoral cavity where the fingers are hard to reach. The user normally addstoothpaste to the bristles to enhance the efficacy of the toothbrush.

At present, there are various types of toothbrushes available in themarket, such as electric toothbrushes, collapsible toothbrushes, healthcare toothbrushes, disposable toothbrushes, and flashing toothbrushes,each of which has different sizes, shapes and bristle materials. Theabovementioned toothbrushes respectively have different advantages andapply to different situations.

For example, the flashing toothbrush emits light to facilitate users toview the cleanness of the oral cavity and provides an amusing effect tolure children to clean teeth everyday. The flashing toothbrushesavailable in the market normally have a built-in electronic circuitboard able to emit light, wherein a switch is used to turn on the lightsource. However, the conventional flashing toothbrushes have adisadvantage: their batteries are unlikely to replace because thebatteries are sealed inside the brush handle.

Besides, the press buttons of the conventional flashing toothbrushes maymalfunction after long-term usage because of abrasion or inappropriateoperation. As the press button is unlikely to replace, the entireflashing toothbrush would be abandoned. Therefore, the conventionalflashing toothbrushes still have room to improve in practicability andstability.

Accordingly, the present invention proposes a touch-control flashingtoothbrush to overcome the abovementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide atouch-control flashing toothbrush, which is triggered to flash by touch,and which has an amusing effect encouraging children to keep their oralhealth persistently.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a touch-controlflashing toothbrush, which is triggered to emit music by touch to lurechildren to brush their teeth and keep their oral health.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide atouch-control flashing toothbrush, which can be triggered to flashwithout using a press button, whereby the flashing toothbrush isexempted from the conventional problem that overuse causes the damage ofthe press button and the malfunction of the flashing toothbrush,wherefore the present invention can decrease the maintenance cost of theflashing toothbrush and promote the durability of the flashingtoothbrush.

To achieve the abovementioned objectives, the present invention proposesa touch-control flashing toothbrush, which comprises a hollow brushhandle and a control circuit board. The front end of the hollow brushhandle has a brush head. Another end of the hollow brush handle, whichis opposite the brush head, has a light-permeable handle member. Thecontrol circuit board is arranged inside the light-permeable handlemember. The control circuit board includes a control circuit. Thecontrol circuit board further includes a light emitting element, twoelectric-conduction contacts, and a battery assembly, which are allelectrically connected with the control circuit. The battery assemblysupplies power to the control circuit, the light emitting element andthe electric-conduction contacts. The electric-conduction contacts areexposed on the surface of the hollow brush handle. Once the twoelectric-conduction contacts are touched simultaneously, the voltage ofthe battery assembly is conducted to the control circuit. Then, thecontrol circuit controls the light emitting element to emit lightprojecting to the exterior through the light-permeable handle member.

Below, embodiments are described in detail to make easily understood theobjectives, technical contents, characteristics and accomplishments ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view schematically showing the touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically showing the touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a cap of thetouch-control flashing toothbrush according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing a touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view schematically showing the touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Refer to FIGS. 1-3 for a first embodiment. The touch-control flashingtoothbrush 1 of the present invention comprises a hollow brush handle 10and a control circuit board 20. The front end of the hollow brush handle10 has a brush head 12. Another end of the hollow brush handle 10, whichis opposite the brush head 12, has a light-permeable handle member 14.The light-permeable handle member 14 has a plurality of light-permeablepatterns 142. In one embodiment, the light-permeable patterns 142 arelight-permeable patterned bumps. In one embodiment, the hollow brushhandle 10 is sleeved by a brush handle protection shell 16 having aplurality of patterned holes 162 corresponding to the light-permeablepatterned bumps; the light-permeable patterned bumps are expose to thepatterned holes 162, and the hollow brush handle 10 set on brush handleprotection shell 16, that was made by injection-molding. The controlcircuit board 20 is arranged inside the hollow brush handle 10.

The control circuit board 20 includes a control circuit 22. The controlcircuit board 20 further includes a light emitting element 24, an audioelement 26, two electric-conduction contacts 28, and a battery assembly29, which are all electrically connected with the control circuit 22.The battery assembly 29 further includes a battery accommodation bay 292and at least one battery 294. The battery accommodation bay 292 has apositive contact and a negative contact respectively at two ends thereofThe positive contact and the negative contact are respectivelyelectrically connected with the positive electrode and the negativeelectrode of the battery 294 to form a loop, whereby the batteryassembly 29 can supply power to the control circuit 22, the lightemitting element 24, the audio element 26, and two electric-conductioncontacts 28.

The two electric-conduction contacts 28 are exposed on the surface ofthe hollow brush handle 10 and located at the rear end or lateralsurface of the hollow brush handle 10. In one embodiment, the rear endof the hollow brush handle 10 has an opening 19; a cap 30 is used tocover the opening 19 and seal the hollow brush handle 10; the twoelectric-conduction contacts 28 are disposed at the cap 30. While thetwo electric-conduction contacts 28 are touched simultaneously, thebattery assembly 29 transmits voltage to the control circuit 22. Then,the control circuit 22 controls the light emitting element 24 to emitlight and controls the audio element 26 to emit music. In oneembodiment, the light emitting element is a light emitting diode.Thereby, the light emitting element 24 provides light projecting to theexterior through the light-permeable handle member 14, and the audioelement 26 provides music. Thus, the touch-control flashing toothbrush 1of the present invention simultaneously generates light and music tointerest children. In one embodiment, the rear end of the hollow brushhandle 10 or at a lateral surface of hollow brush handle has a suctiondisc 18, whereby the touch-control flashing toothbrush 1 of the presentinvention can be stuck onto a plane. In one embodiment, the suction disc18 is disposed at the cap 30, which is at the rear end of the hollowbrush handle 10. Therefore, the touch-control flashing toothbrush 1 ofthe present invention would not be laid on a plane horizontally but canbe stuck onto the plane vertically by the suction disc 22. Thus, thebrush head 12 would not be polluted by the dirt on the plane.

Refer to FIG. 4 for the detailed structure of the cap 30 disposed at theopening 10 of the rear end of the hollow brush handle 10. The cap 30includes an inner thread 32 and a positioning recess 34. The opening 19of the hollow brush handle 10 has an outer thread 192, and the outerthread 192 has a positioning block 194. The cap 30 is engaged with thehollow brush handle 10 via screwing the outer thread 192 of the opening19 into the inner thread 32 of the cap 30 until the positioning block194 is press-fit into the positioning recess 34.

After the description of the overall structural design of the presentinvention, refer to FIG. 2 again for how the electric-conductioncontacts 28 trigger the light emitting element 24 and the audio element26. The electric-conduction contacts 28 are made of a conductivemetallic material. While the two electric-conduction contacts 28 aretouched by a human body or water simultaneously, the battery 294 and acontrol chip 222 of the control circuit 22 are electrically connected.Then, the control chip 222 controls the light emitting element 24 andthe audio element 26 to operate. Thus, light and music is emitted outthrough the light-permeable handle member 14 of the hollow brush handle10. Thereby, music and lighting patterns/flashing patterns are generatedto attract the attention of children. In the present invention, thelight-emitting element 24 may emit light in various modes. For example,the light-emitting element 24 emits light continuously for N seconds, oremits light intermittently (flashes). The lighting modes of thelight-emitting element 24 can be programmed in the control circuit 22according to the requirements of users. The present invention does notparticularly limit the lighting modes of the light-emitting element 24.

Refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 for a second embodiment of the presentinvention. In addition to the opening 19 formed at the rear end of thehollow brush handle 10, the touch-control flashing toothbrush 1 of thepresent invention further comprises a side opening 15 on the lateralsurface of the hollow brush handle 10. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5and FIG. 6, a cover 40 covers the side opening 15. The cover 40 has apress-fit member 42, and the side opening 15 of the hollow brush handle10 has an assembly member 152. Through the engagement of the press-fitmember 42 and the assembly member 152, the cover 40 is secured to thehollow brush handle 10. Alternatively, the cover 40 may be joined withthe hollow brush handle 10 by ultrasonic welding. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the light-permeable patterns 142 are formedon the cover 40. Different from the first embodiment where the twoelectric-conduction contacts 28 and the suction disc 18 are disposed atthe cap 30, the second embodiment disposes the two electric-conductioncontacts 28 and the suction disc 18 at the rear end of the hollow brushhandle 10. While the two electric-conduction contacts 28 are touchedsimultaneously, the light emitting element 24 and the audio element 26respectively provide light and music at the same time. Thereby, musicand lighting patterns/flashing patterns are generated to attract theattention of children to the touch-control flashing toothbrush 1 of thepresent invention. The structure of the second embodiment is basicallysimilar to that of the first embodiment except the installation of thecover 40 and the positions of the electric-conduction contacts 28, thesuction disc 18 and the light-permeable patterns 142. Therefore, it willnot repeat herein.

In conclusion, the present invention uses touch to trigger a flashingtoothbrush to emit light and music, whereby lighting variation and musicwill interest children and encourage them to brush teeth daily and keeporal health persistently. Further, the touch-control flashing toothbrush1 of the present invention is free of any press button and exempted fromthe conventional problem that repeated operations cause the press buttonto malfunction. Therefore, the present invention can decrease themaintenance cost of the flashing toothbrush and promote the durabilityof the flashing toothbrush.

The embodiments described above are only to exemplify the presentinvention but not to limit the scope of the present invention. Anyequivalent modification or variation according to the characteristic orspirit of the present invention is to be also included within the scopeof the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch-control flashing toothbrush comprising ahollow brush handle whose front end has a brush head and whose anotherend, which is opposite said brush head, has a light-permeable handlemember; and a control circuit board arranged inside said hollow brushhandle, including a control circuit, said control circuit electricallyconnected with a light emitting element, two electric-conductioncontacts and a battery assembly, wherein said two electric-conductioncontacts are exposed on a surface of said hollow brush handle, andwherein while said two electric-conduction contacts are touchedsimultaneously, said battery assembly transmits voltage to said controlcircuit, whereafter said control circuit controls said light emittingelement to emit light projecting to exterior through saidlight-permeable handle member.
 2. The touch-control flashing toothbrushaccording to claim 1, wherein said control circuit board furtherincludes an audio element electrically connected with said controlcircuit, and wherein while said two electric-conduction contacts aretouched simultaneously, said battery assembly is electrically connectedwith said control circuit and transmits voltage to said control circuit,whereafter said control circuit controls said audio element to providemusic.
 3. The touch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 1,wherein said light emitting element is a light emitting diode.
 4. Thetouch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein asuction disc is disposed at a rear end of said hollow brush handle forattaching said touch-control flashing toothbrush onto a plane.
 5. Thetouch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein asuction disc is disposed at a lateral surface of said hollow brushhandle for attaching said touch-control flashing toothbrush onto aplane.
 6. The touch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 1,wherein a rear end of said hollow brush handle has an opening, andwherein a cap is installed in said opening.
 7. The touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to claim 6, wherein said cap has an innerthread and a positioning recess, and wherein said opening of said hollowbrush handle has an outer thread, and wherein said outer thread has apositioning block, and wherein said cap is engaged with said hollowbrush handle via screwing said outer thread into said inner thread untilsaid positioning block is press-fit to said positioning recess.
 8. Thetouch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein saidhollow brush handle has a side opening, and wherein a cover is installedin said side opening.
 9. The touch-control flashing toothbrush accordingto claim 8, wherein said cover has a press-fit member, and said sideopening of said hollow brush handle has an assembly member, and whereinsaid cover is secured to said hollow brush handle through engagement ofsaid press-fit member and said assembly member.
 10. The touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to claim 8, wherein said cover is joinedwith said hollow brush handle by ultrasonic welding.
 11. Thetouch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein saidbattery assembly further includes a battery accommodation bay and atleast one battery, and wherein said battery accommodation bay has apositive contact and a negative contact respectively at two endsthereof, and wherein said positive contact and said negative contact arerespectively electrically connected with a positive electrode and anegative electrode of said battery to form a loop.
 12. The touch-controlflashing toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein said light-permeablebrush handle has a plurality of light-permeable patterns.
 13. Thetouch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 12, wherein saidlight-permeable patterns are light-permeable patterned bumps, andwherein said hollow brush handle is sleeved by a brush handle protectionshell having a plurality of patterned holes corresponding to saidlight-permeable patterned bumps, and wherein said light-permeablepatterned bumps are expose to said patterned holes.
 14. Thetouch-control flashing toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein said twoelectric-conduction contacts are arranged at a rear end or a lateralsurface of said hollow brush handle.